No more viola jokes, if
you don’t mind……
For quite some years it has been a cause of much hilarity
amongst orchestral players to tell the latest “viola joke”.
For some inexplicable reason the viola has always been
the butt
of derisive humour when musicians are in a ribald mood, the
coffee break at a rehearsal or in the pub after the concert. Why
should this be? Perhaps traditionally the viola was seen
as the Cinderella of string instruments whose task was mere
hack-work; simple, undemonstrative accompaniment, not a glamorous
soloist like the violin or the cello. The viola was looked
upon merely as a refuge for less-able or ageing violinists.
But there have been some distinguished musicians of the past
who were devoted to this eloquent instrument not least Mozart
himself, and in more recent times Paul Hindemith, Vaughan
Williams and Benjamin Britten, along with the great French
conductor Pierre Monteux.
So it is particular satisfying to read the splendid biography
of Lionel Tertis: “The First Great Virtuoso of the Viola” which
has occupied its author, John White for a few years and
which happily has now been published by the Boydell Press. Mr
White freely acknowledges the many friends who have helped
to assemble so much information, most especially Michael
Dennison of “Comus Edition” , along with distinguished present-day
viola players, and other discerning musicians who have always
recognised the true nature of the viola.
Lionel Tertis, born in the north-east in 1876, lived until the
age of ninety-nine and in that century established the viola
in its rightful place as an equal of, and as essential as,
the violin or cello. Tertis was a perfectionist in all
matters of viola lore: the founder of a meticulous modern
technique of performance, the designer of a modern instrument
which he persuaded luthiers to create to his very exacting
specification, and perhaps most of all the motivator of
countless student viola-players and the true inspiration
to composers who have created that great corpus of music
for the instrument; concertos, solo pieces, sonatas, and
chamber music of many styles. Tertis had a long and happy
marriage to his first wife Ada, and some years after her death
married the younger cellist Lillian Warmington who was an
equally stimulating help-meet and musical associate in his
latter years. He was of international rank, and curiously
enough, born on the same day as that other great string player the
cellist Pau Casals, with whom he enjoyed a long and musically
fruitful association. Being such a perfectionist cannot
always have been easy, and it has to be recorded that Tertis
was not always easy to work with; his demands for exactitude
and impeccable musicianship left many others in some awe. Away
from the concert platform or the teaching session he was
a mild-mannered and most unassuming man; one of the very
great musicians of the last century.
This is an excellent book and deserves the attention of all who
have a lively interest in the annals of British music.
Arthur Butterworth
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